Posts Tagged ipod

Apple has reportedly agreed to pay $53 million as a settlement for a class action lawsuit involving liquid damaged iPhone and iPod devices. The complainants alleged that the company relied on faulty indicators to check if the devices came in contact with water and to deny them with their warranty claims.

The settlement is expected to be filed at the San Francisco federal court in the following weeks. There will be cash payouts made to hundreds of thousands of iPhone and iPod Touch owners whose one year standard or two year extended warranties were not honored by the company.

The liquid damage policy of Apple states that “If an iPhone or iPod has been damaged by liquid (for example, coffee or a soft drink), the service for such liquid damage is not covered by the Apple one year limited warranty or an AppleCare Protection Plan (APP). iPhone and most iPod devices that were built after 2006 have built-in Liquid Contact Indicators that will show (as described below) whether the device has been in contact with water or a liquid containing water.”

The class action lawsuit was first filed in 2010 by Charlene Gallion “on behalf of herself and others similarly situated.” Consumers involved will be eligible to around $300 depending on the device they own and how many people make the claim.

“According to several lawsuits combined in San Francisco, no matter what the problem, Apple refused to honor warranties if a white indicator tape embedded in the phone near the headphone or charging portals had turned pink or red. However, the tape’s maker, 3M, said humidity, and not water contact, could have caused the color to at least turn pink.”

iPhones that were denied warranty service before Dec. 31, 2009 and iPod Touches that were denied before June 2010 due to Apple’s liquid damage policy are eligible for the settlement which is still pending court approval. The affected devices includes original iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and the first, second and third generation iPod Touch. Attorneys representing the case are eligible for 30 percent of the total amount the company will pay.

With the increasing number of smartphones, there are bound to be a lot of third party accessories for them. Especially for Apple products where accessories are sold for a premium price. And with the introduction of the new lightning connector, Apple moved away completely from the traditional 30 pin dock connector which was standard for the iPod Classic, iPod Touch, iPhones and iPads. This apparently brought faster transfer speeds and quicker charging capabilities, with the tradeoff being limited third party accessories at the time of the launch. But we expected that to pick up pace as the days went by and some Chinese accessory makers were quick to open up the lightning connector to replicate them and start selling affordable cables of their own.

In the U.S, a company named Junior Edison was formed so as to bring mobile charging to all these devices with a device called POP (Point of Power). This charging device came with retractable cords and is portable to conveniently carry it around. Powering the unit is a 26,000 mAh battery pack inside to charge almost every device you own with ease. The group also had a variant named POP Station planned which would allow users to plug into a nearest plug point and charge the device that way. Since this was a new and emerging group, they needed to raise funds to support the project, which is why they posted their idea on Kickstarter, eventually garnering lot of pledgers and raising funds of up to $139,170. However, it now seems like the gang at Junior Edison are preparing to refund the money to the pledgers/investors as the project has failed to take off. And this has nothing to do with the company itself, but the stringent rules put in place by Apple, apparently.

As you would expect, this new portable charging device decided to have the proprietary Apple lightning charging connector as one of its cords along with the usual USB and other charging cords to support other devices. But that’s where the problem began, it seems, as Apple wanted the charging unit to only include its lightning connector and not any other port (not even its own 30 pin accessory). So what this meant was that the gang at Junior Edison had to make this an iPhone only charging accessory, which frankly wouldn’t work as there are plenty of other devices out there which have a market for an accessory like this. Every third party accessory that supports Apple products needs prior reviewing and permission from Apple. So when Junior Edison asked for permission, Apple broke the news and the project was called off and the folks have decided to refund the money to the investors (over 1,000 of them). The company ruled out launching the POP with a standard 30-pin port and a lightning adapter as it would make no financial sense. This is because the adapters alone cost $25 (on wholesale).

Some feel this was all intentional and the developers just wanted to get some attention. Because when you look closely at the actual product, it comes with two female USB ports at the bottom. So even though there’s no retractable lightning port on board, I guess users with a lightning cable would be able to use the charging port just fine. The ability to not add a retractable lightning cable to the unit shouldn’t be enough reason to call of the entire project, which I guess makes all of this sound a little suspicious. Moreover, the CEO of Junior Edison, Jamie Siminoff has decided to refund the investors’ money on his own crowdfunding site – Christie Street. So was this just to garner attention from the investors on Kickstarter so as to make a name for himself? We hope not, because the idea shown here was really brilliant and we would have really liked the device seeing the light of the day. On the other hand, it makes us wonder about Apple’s policies where it doesn’t allow third party accessories to support both lightning and its own 30-pin connectors. For now, it is curtains on this project and investors should shortly get their money back.

Cupertino, Calif.-based tech titan has recently applied for a new patent for wireless charging system. The patent application, dubbed as Wireless Power Utilization in a Local Computing Environment, shows that Apple is on the right track to developing a wireless charger that would literally replenish batteries of iPhone, iPad and iPod without the presence of an accessory or pad that serves as the main charger unit where devices are often attached with or set atop.

This patent makes use of an existing technology known as near-field magnetic resonance (NFMR) that would allow any device with NFMR resonator circuits be charged provided they are within range of the source. Apparently, it offers convenience no other charger units offered before but there’s a catch; you have to buy a new iMac for it to work. And yes, it might not work with previous Apple devices. Nevertheless, this is another milestone for the company as it brings improvements to the current wireless charging system that was introduced a few years ago.

A magnetic field that will serve as a channel for wireless charging will be formed around the NFMR source. The patent application indicates devices up to 3 feet far from the source can have their batteries charged. While it may seem like a godsend technology, many experts found a problem in using it. Since it uses a strong magnetic field that could transmit electrons to be stored to a remote cell, it can damage anything that use a magnetic strip to store data like credit or debit cards.

Moreover, Apple may not be the first company to have conceived this wireless charging technology. WiPower, which was bought by Qualcomm, applied for a patent in 2008 similar to the patent the tech giant applied for.

“Apple’s wireless NFMR patent was filed in 2010 before the alliance was established, but tech startup WiPower, a member of the organization, applied for a patent on the same concept back in 2008,” The Register reported. It might be too early to say that but it might just spark another nasty legal battle in the future.

Nevertheless, the wireless charging system that Apple is developing now may just become the key to the realization of over-the-air battery charging.

Android got a ~21 hour head start, but we doubt you’ll find too many avid Gmailers bemoaning the fact that version 2.0 of their most needed app hit iOS a little bit late. Google has just pushed the latest major update of its Gmail app to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users, and it’s quite the update indeed. For starters, you’ll get an entirely new look, plus a bunch of improvements like profile pictures in messages, numerous new animations from swivels to transitions and infinite scrolling in the message lists. You’ll also notice that autocomplete predictions will appear as you type, and users can RSVP to Google Calendar invites as well as +1 and comment on Google+ posts directly from the app.

Moreover, the company added a feature that many have been clamoring for — multiple account support — enabling users to login to up to five Google Accounts from the menu and switch between them with a couple taps. Hit up the iTunes link below for a download, or just update the new-fashioned way on the device itself. (Though, it looks like folks are hitting errors right out of the gate when attempting to download — we’re guessing it’ll sort itself in the hours ahead.)

Neoappz, a mobile application development company, is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of SpeakingCal 1.0 for iPhone and iPod touch. SpeakingCal is an user-friendly application which features amazing voice reminders. It is ideal for managing busy work schedules as well as for managing everyday tasks and events.

The following are some of the main features of SpeakingCal:
- Ability to listen to reminders while engaging in busy activities (eg Driving)
- Ability to receive reminders even when the app is not running
- Easy to add tasks and events
- Easy to use calendar list,day and month views
- Ability to listen to all the tasks and events of the day with a tap
- Ability to categorize tasks and events (eg. Home,Work etc)

The third quarter may not be good for Apple, but it is poised to stage a grand comeback for the December quarter by expecting a record-topping holiday season yet.

When quarter ended last September 29, Apple earned $8.2 billion on their sales of $36 billion. The figures failed to impress market analysts and causing Apple’s shares to drop very slightly hours after the trading day ended.

However, Apple’s prediction for next quarter is an impressive $52 billion as the Cupertino giant expects sales to sales during the holiday season. The figure is up 12 percent from last year’s figure. The sales figure would be the highest quarterly sales ever for a tech company although it still falls short of Wall Street’s expectations. Apple had a history of projecting conservative estimates then blowing past it.

Apple’s iPhone sale this quarter of 27 million units shows an increase of 58% from last year. Apple had experienced trouble meeting the demands for iPhone 5 up to the end of the quarter. Just this month, Verizon blamed Apple for the limited supply of iPhone 5 during the first week after release.

Other Apple products are not performing as expected though. Apple iPad tablet only sold 14 million, lower than what analysts are expecting. During the previous quarter, Apple sold 17 million iPads following its debut last March.

And as of this week, Apple presented their 7.9-inch iPad mini, which according to them, is an improved fourth-generation iPad with a much faster processor and 4G/LTE capable.

Sales of Mac computers remained flat at 4.9 million units, while iPod sales is continuing to drop tallying only 19% over the year translating to 5.3 million.

The iPhone-maker company had long since revealed sales figures for its products over the course of seven years. The figures show the evolving picture of the device market as the world shifts more to mobile computing. Sales of Macs had not risen while iPod sales had continued to drop amidst the increase in sales for iPads. Apple’s bestselling iPhones continue to show positive growth during quarters when a new model is released.

In a conference call with analysts, chief executive Tim Cook said that the iPad takes $7.5 billion of the entire company’s revenue during the third quarter. He also took the oppurtunity to hit the new rival in the market, Microsoft’s Surface.

“I haven’t played with a Surface yet, but what we’re reading about it is it’s a fairly compromised, confusing product,” he said.

When asked about why the new iPad mini is still more expensive than at $329 than Google’s, Samsung’s, and Amazon’s $199 7-inch tablets, Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer showed defensive tone.

“The difference between the iPad mini and the competition is profound,” Oppenheimer remarked.

We didn’t set out to build a smaller, cheaper tablet. We set out to build the full iPad experience.”

Cook had an even blunt statement.

“We would not make one of the 7-inch tablets,” Cook said. “We just don’t think they’re good products.”

Experts as well as analysts are split what’s the best stance for Apple about its most recent incoming product. Blogger John Gruber said in a gist though: “Better but costs more’ is a gamble. ‘Better and costs the same or less’ is a sure thing.”

FreedomPop’s gamble on free WiMAX data launched in beta at the start of month, but early adopters had to be contented with conventional hotspots and modems at first; those of us with a fixation on data-only cellular handsets had to keep waiting. We can stay slightly cooler-headed now that the provider is shipping its iPod touch 4G Sleeve. Shelling out $99 grafts a 4G hotspot to the back of the fourth-generation media player that gives it independence from WiFi as well as connection sharing with eight other devices — at least, for anyone willing to burn through that 500MB of free monthly data in record time. About the only catches are the $10 per gigabyte overage fee and a design that’s just slightly behind the times for iPod addicts. While some of us will still cling to smartphones for coverage or legacy reasons, others who mostly communicate through Instagram food photos could have that excuse they need to drop cellular phone service once and for all.

Update: Thanks to reader (and early adopter) Penn who pointed out that overages are $20 per gigabyte if you’re on the free plan — it’s only $10 if you’re a regularly paying customer.

FreedomPop’s gamble on free WiMAX data launched in beta at the start of month, but early adopters had to be contented with conventional hotspots and modems at first; those of us with a fixation on data-only cellular handsets had to keep waiting. We can stay slightly cooler-headed now that the provider is shipping its iPod touch 4G Sleeve. Shelling out $99 grafts a 4G hotspot to the back of the fourth-generation media player that gives it independence from WiFi as well as connection sharing with eight other devices — at least, for anyone willing to burn through that 500MB of free monthly data in record time. About the only catches are the $10 per gigabyte overage fee and a design that’s just slightly behind the times for iPod addicts. While some of us will still cling to smartphones for coverage or legacy reasons, others who mostly communicate through Instagram food photos could have that excuse they need to drop cellular phone service once and for all.

At its event in San Francisco a few weeks back, Apple had more up its sleeve than just an aluminum-clad smartphone. In the latest issue of our weekly, we put both the new iPod nano and iPod touch through their paces to find out how they fare against their elder siblings. If a duo of PMP reviews doesn’t snag your attention, we also throw down the review gauntlet on Wacom’s Cintiq 24HD touch and this year’s slimmed-down PlayStation 3. Eyes-On peeks at an ultrathin ultrabook, Weekly Stat examines emoticon use and Time Machines tallies up some more gadget history. The week’s end is mere hours away and the usual download links that follow can help you settle in for a bit of leisurely gadget reading.

Apple has sent out media invites for a special event they will be hosting on October 23rd, an even we all know by now the company will be launching a smaller version of the iPad tablet, iPad mini. There have been rumors for months now that Apple has been working on the smaller tablet and it appeared to be a silly idea at first until the rumors became more prevalent and even more realistic. The success of Google’s 7 inch nexus tablet has proven that mini tablets have a place in the market, but knowing Apple’s history on market strategy and pricing structure, will the iPad mini be as successful as the parent iPad? I guess it’s all about the specs and how the company markets it.

What will the mini offer to apple fanatics? Well, there have been speculations going around about a better display, more solid build and a thinner tablet but considering design limitations, are these possible. We will look at some of the anticipated features (realistic) in order to know whether the mini will be a threat to the various Android mini tablets on the market now.

a) 3G and 4G LTE on all versions

When Apple released the iPad and later iPad 2, some models were without 3G. But this is understandable since users would typically connect the tablet to the internet via WiFi because it is a pretty big tablet. The Mini is much smaller and more portable and users would use it more than they do the larger version and 3G and 4G for all the tablets would be something every user who intends to get it looks forward to. How important do you think the 3G and 4G connectivity option is for the iPad Mini?

b) High res camera

Let’s face it, Apple did not consider a high res camera on a iPad and iPad 2 of any consequence, but the recent influx of amazing Android tablets have almost made the high resolution camera or the secondary camera on a tablet almost a necessity for all tablets. Well, the Nexus 7 has no rear camera and we all wish it had, but is there any chance Apple will include at least a 5MP camera on their new mini tab? iPhone 5 came with an 8 megapixels camera which going by the many reviews by independent tech geeks is quite impressive. Apple fans should not raise their hopes too high but it would be a sweet surprise if the iPad mini actually came with a secondary camera.

c) Absence of some iPad 2 features

Apple intends to keep the larger iPad alive even after the launch of the mini, and for this to happen, users have to have clear reasons to go for either or both the iPad 2 and the iPad mini. The best way to do this is have features on the larger iPad that the mini doesn’t have and some on the iPad mini that are missing on the larger iPad. But what features can the mini have that the larger iPad doesn’t besides camera? Try 4G LTE, a higher resolution camera, maybe there is a surprise coming that will blow our minds? Well, there must be something different in the mini, we just can’t tell what.

d) Lightning connector

Apple launched their new, smaller lightning connector port that replaces the older wider one and we are pretty sure the iPad mini will have the new connector. The iPhone 5 has it, iPod Nano and iPod touch has it and it appears all iOS devices from now on will have this improved but smaller connector. This is a great feature for the iPad mini considering that size is a major issue in its design. The larger iPads lack this but it certainly helps the device appearance.

e) Educational approach?

Apple has put a lot of effort in education over the last couple of months, but although there have been educational-themed iPads in New York, the company has not actually released a device that actually targets the education sector. The mini would be a perfect gadget to push this agenda – they could have a version dedicated to education that could come at a lower price and have a ton of educational applications.

f) Better display?

The iPad mini will have a smaller screen than the larger iPad. It is expected that it will feature a 7 inch screen but nothing besides the size is a certain speculation. However, with the company’s development of display technology which was showcased in their iPhone 5, I wouldn’t be surprised if the iPad mini has a display resolution close to or the same as that of iPad 2. iPad 2’s 1024 x 768 pixels resolution is achievable even with a smaller 7 inch tablet but some geeks say that Apple’s iPad mini may end up way larger than the standard mini tablet – it could have a 7.8 inch screen just to accommodate a higher resolution display. The mini tablet will certainly boast of a Retina display and this means that the capability of the new iPad mini will outshine the larger iPad’s.

Finally, Apple will make a kill off the iPad mini depending on how they price the mini-tablet. It is difficult to put a figure on the estimate price but even apple fans know this has never been the company’s strategy.

Apple Inc. has already started shipping its new iPod Touch, keeping the tech company on track to distribute their fifth-generation touch according to their scheduled timetable.

According to Gigaom writer in Pennsylvania, Apple is now shipping their iPod Touch in accordance to their plan. Apple is expected to ship the first batch of iPhone Touch from China on October 9 and October 15 as the estimated delivery date.

The new iPod Touch was introduced in last month’s iPhone 5 lunch event though Apple never disclosed when the latest iPod will be available in the market.

iPod Touch features a 4-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. It also has 5-megapixel camera on the back while the front facing camera can handle FaceTime HD at a resolution of 720 pixel.

The iPod Touch 5G will be available in six colors and costs $299 for 32GB and $399 for the 64GB version.

Meanwhile, Apple shares plummet by 10 percent since reaching the all-time high of $705 last September.

The retreat in shares has been considered ‘counterintuitive’ to the upcoming release of iPad Mini, which is tapped to expand Apple’s market coverage in its tablet business segment.

Apple is still negotiating with Chinese telecom giants China Mobile to hammer a deal that would further boost its market in Asia.

“We continue to believe iPad Mini is the competition’s worst nightmare but attractive price points will be key,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Sterne Agee.

Wu is one of the analysts that doesn’t believe Apple’s run is done, although it may take a while before Apple’s stock reverses course.

“We believe concerns are overdone and this appears to be a typical consolidation after a big run,” Wu said in a research note.

The Cupertino tech giant, Apple, released the portable music player – iPod, almost a decade back. And the device instantly became a hit with the users and became one of the most important revenue streams for the company. The Classic iPod helped the company go beyond the Mac computer system and explore other consumer electronics domain and then master it. There is nothing wrong even if you call the iPod a revolution. I’m sure a lot of people will agree with me on that one.

The Classic iPod was then improvised and divided into various other models, such as the iPod Nano, the iPod Shuffle, and then the more popular iPod Touch. The genius mind of Steve Jobs helped the company master the world of portable music players as well. But Steve Jobs soon realized that the world will move ahead in technology and very soon, smart phones will be strong enough to play music on the go while working on something else.

At such a time, the market for the iPod would drop, and the then CEO thought that he had to do something to prevent that from happening. So and his team designed an internet communication device and integrated that to an iPod. Hence, the iPhone came into existence. This way, the company has been able to be the leader in both the markets.

Today is the first year anniversary of that great mind, and to pay tribute to Steve Jobs, a person has designed a working Classic iPod using HTML which plays in your browser. The HTML code simulates the hardware and software of a classic iPod touch and you will be able to play music that are available on this iPod (songs which are actually available on the server on which the iPod is hosted).

The player plays very well. The quality of the music being streamed is really good. But what matters most is how people think of Steve Jobs and to what extent they go to show their love to the man.

BEHRINGER is name that not many of you might know. It is a name that isn’t all that big in the mobile industry, but is rather HUGE in the music industry. They make some of the best mixing boards, effects processors, Bass and guitar amplifiers and other equipment that truly rocks. I have personally used various BEHRINGER products in the past when I played guitar and I was never disappointed. Now they have entered into the mobile arena with a follow-up product to their insane iNuke BOOM.

You never saw the iNuke BOOM? Well you have to take a look at the video below to see what the heck the did. It was an 8-foot long, 10,000 watt iPod dock. Yes, eight feet long ten thousand watts. Yes, I want one too.

Since most people would never be able to afford a $30,000 dock that big and powerful, BEHRINGER scaled it down, make it ‘normal’ sized and affordable. That is where the iNuke BOOM Junior comes into play. Bringing all the simple design elements of the larger BOOM, down to size to fit on your book-case, table, desk or counter top. Check out the features and spec rundown.

Features:

Three-Way Active Design – Stunning concert-quality sound at home

Integrated Subwoofer – Powerful, Deep Lows without Distortion

Made for iPod, iPhone and iPad – Dock to play or charge your device

Auxiliary Audio Input – Works with Android® devices and other music players

Yes, I know, it is littered with our favorite products from Apple. Not the point really. Since it has a line in jack that makes it work just fine for us Android users as well and if you already have a Bluetooth Audio receiver, then you can easily make this wireless.

The iNuke BOOM Junior is currently available exclusively at Costco.com for $179.99. For all that it offers and knowing that the sound quality is going to be stunning, the price is just about right.

There is more good news though. BEHRINGER wants to get these puppies out in the hands of people all over the place. Right now if you go to their Facebook page and hit the magical ‘Like’ button you can then enter the sweepstakes and have a chance to win one of these monsters. They will be giving one away every day for the entire month of October. That is a whole lot of BOOM for a whole lot of people. I know I went and hit that little button, never hurts to try right?

Amazon’s alternative cloud-based music storage service is now available in the UK, with the desktop MP3 sync site and Android app now accepting logins from UK Amazon users. Sign in with your usual Amazon account details, then start uploading tracks to listen to wherever you happen to be at. It is that simple.

The Android Amazon MP3 app will then let you see and access your music on your phone or tablet, with Amazon rather awkwardly beating Google in launching a fully-featured, integrated cloud-based music service in Europe.

That’s us. A man who’s bored of listening to ‘New Life’ is bored of life itself. Start the desktop uploads here, then get the Android app here if you want to let Amazon be in charge of your music streaming and storage, although you have to pay £21.99 a year for a premium account to upload more than 250 of your own MP3s.

Here’s a thing from Amazon:

Amazon Customers in the UK Can Now Enjoy Their Music Everywhere With the Launch of Amazon Cloud Player for Android, iPhone and iPod Touch, and Web – All Available Starting Today

Amazon extends its popular “Buy Once, Enjoy Everywhere” content ecosystem to the UK

Luxembourg – 18 September, 2012 – Amazon.co.uk today announced the launch of Amazon Cloud Player, enabling customers to securely store music in the cloud and play it on any Android phone, Android tablet, Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac or PC – wherever they happen to be. Customers can get started at www.amazon.co.uk/cloudplayer, where they can easily import their music using Cloud Player’s new scan and match technology. Customers’ iTunes and Windows Media Player music libraries are scanned and tracks are matched to more than 20 million music tracks in Amazon’s catalogue. All matched songs are automatically stored in high-quality 256 Kbps audio. All Amazon MP3 purchases – including music that customers purchased previously – are automatically saved to Cloud Player for free, which means that customers have a secure backup copy of the MP3s they buy from Amazon, free of charge.

“Millions of US customers are already using Amazon Cloud Player to listen to their music everywhere, on their favourite devices, including Kindle Fire, Android phones and tablets, iPhones, iPod Touches, Macs and PCs. We’re excited to bring this same convenience to Amazon music customers in the UK,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President of EU Retail at Amazon. “The launch of Cloud Player in the UK means that customers can buy anywhere, play anywhere, and keep all of their music in one place without the need for constant software updates, or drives and cables to move and manage their music.”

Cloud Player is available in a Free tier and a Premium tier. Cloud Player Free customers can store 250 tracks from their PC or Mac to Cloud Player, at no charge. Cloud Player Premium customers can store 250,000 tracks in Cloud Player for an annual fee of £21.99. Amazon-purchased MP3s do not count against the 250 or 250,000-track limits and are added to both Free and Premium Cloud Player libraries at no charge.

Adding Music to Cloud Player
Amazon scans customers’ iTunes and Windows Media Player libraries and matches tracks on their computers to eligible tracks from more than 20 million in Amazon’s track catalogue. All matched tracks– even music purchased from iTunes or imported from CDs – are instantly made available in Cloud Player and are upgraded for free to high-quality 256 Kbps audio. Scan and match supports several file types, including MP3, AAC, WMA (Windows only), OGG, WAV, Apple Lossless (MacOS only), AIFF, and FLAC.

Enjoying Music Everywhere

· Cloud Player for Web
Customers who have a computer with a Web browser can listen to their music. Cloud Player for Web currently supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari for Mac and Chrome. Cloud Player for Web enables customers to easily organise their music, and gives both download and streaming options for playback.

· Cloud Player for Android
Cloud Player for Android is simply included in the new version of the MP3 App, which includes the full Amazon MP3 Store and the mobile version of Cloud Player. Customers can use the app to play music stored on their Cloud Player and music stored locally on their device. Features include the ability to search and browse by artist, album or track, create playlists and download music from Cloud Player to the device for offline playback.

· Cloud Player for iPhone and iPod Touch
Amazon Cloud Player is also available on iPhone and iPod Touch. The app allows customers to stream or download music stored in Cloud Player to their iPhone or iPod Touch, play music that is already stored on their device, and manage or create playlists. Features include the ability to search and browse by artist, album or track, create playlists and download music from Cloud Player to the iPhone or iPod Touch for offline playback.

· Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD
The all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD are coming to the UK, backed by Amazon’s Vast Content Ecosystem and Cross-Platform Interoperability. With apps available on the largest number of devices and platforms, Kindle makes it easier than ever for customers to access content anytime, anywhere, including their music with the Amazon Cloud Player.

Securely Storing Music in the Cloud
Customers never need to worry about losing their music collection to a hard drive crash again. Files are securely stored on Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). Customers can buy Amazon MP3s anywhere and know that their MP3s are safely stored in Cloud Player and accessible from any device.

Sure, all the talk of late is about Apple’s shiny new iPhone 5, but let’s not forget the company also unveiled a slew of fresh iPods back at the Yerba Buena Center this past week. And while the Cupertino outfit’s had the music-friendly lineup for pre-order on its website from day one, folks can now start placing orders through Amazon as well. The only bad news is the revamped iPod touch shows an estimated shipping time of 3-5 weeks, while the “renanoed” nano and the tiny, colorful shuffle are both expected to be shipped in 2-5 weeks. As far as pricing goes, the MSRP tags are the same as Apple’s — though there is a better chance you could get them a bit quicker thanks to one of Amazon’s renowned shipping options. Either way, you’ll find ‘em all at the source link below.

Apple has a tradition of timing FCC filings for new wireless mobile devices so that they appear just as soon as they’ve been announced, and it’s not about to let up now. We’ve got a trifecta of approvals on the way for 2012 that start with the iPhone 5. What’s hard to miss is the absurd number of cellular bands at work: as Apple had to make separate iPhone 5 models to cover every LTE carrier it supports, on top of the usual alphabet soups for CDMA and GSM, the filing combining the two devices is one of the largest we’ve seen to date. The addition of 5GHz WiFi support only compounds the situation.

A pair of iPods also made their appearances today, and they’ve been given the regulatory once-over as well. The iPod touch has the 5GHz WiFi band included and isn’t special by itself, but the new iPod nano is noteworthy simply for showing up at all — the inclusion of Bluetooth means a spin past the testing facility in addition to some wireless audio. We’re still digging to see if the iPhone or new iPods have any surprises, although you can have a first-hand look through the source links.

MorphCase is does not try to be a full fledged 3G/4G case for the iPod touch which would let you make calls using wireless data services, such as the FreedomPop jacket, that comes with its own data plan with 4G connectivity and a $100 price tag.

MorphCase is a lot more simpler in its approach and it still requires you o be connected to a Wi-Fi network to make an receive calls. Calls are still VoIP based, using apps like Skype or Fring etc,. So, basically, MorphCase is a VoIP adapter for your iPod touch that come will provide you with a microphone and a speaker, that are built into the case (or wrap around). MorphCase connects to your iPod touch through the standard audio jack and eliminates the need for a dedicated headset to make and receive calls, allowing you to use your iPod touch in exactly the same way you would use an iPhone, around a Wi-Fi connected area.

The Wi-Fi only connectivity might sound like an obvious and major shortcoming, but the point here is, MorphCase does not want to be one of those cases that provide wireless data connectivity. The MorphCase is targeted at a crowd that is not too serious about using their iPod touch as a full time phone. It is for those who do not want to be bother about data plans and monthly data limits and just want to use the iPod touch to make calls when at home, using the unlimited Wi-Fi network. The MorphCase will also be a perfect phone for kids who can use it to make calls only when they are at home, without their parents having to worry about data charges.

Another plus point with the MorphCase is that it adds almost no extra bage to the iPod and lets it retain the slim form factor. Unlike the FreedomPop 4G case, that turns the iPod touch into a ‘fat’ iPhone 3G.

MorphCase is available in white and black colors but will only be manufactured it manages to reach its goal of $100,000 by the end of this month. The case costs only $30 and if you would like to see it become commercially available then go ahead and contribute from the source link below.

Xylio announces the next generation of Future DJ, its flagship iOS DJ app packed with intuitive and advanced new features. The app takes advantage of the iPad’s innovative Multi Touch interface to give users full control over the many functions that make this app a true DJ experience.

DJs and music-oriented people have started to see the future DJ-ing capabilities that the iPad can offer for mixing their favorite music. Future DJ appeals to this need, directly linking the user to their iTunes/iPod music library. By providing easy access anyone can start mixing straight away, even if they’re on the move. The new record function comes as a very convenient feature for recording any mix/music.

The Korean manufacturer Samsung is widely expected to launch their Galaxy Media Player, possibly in the next few weeks. Whilst most of use our smartphones and tablets for playing various types of media, there are those who prefer to have a dedicated media player and news of the latest Samsung Galaxy Player will be welcome news for some.

Leaks have appeared showing what purports to be the next Galaxy Player YP-GP1, on first glance very similar in appearance to Samsung’s smash-hit smartphone, the Galaxy S3.

For those not familiar with the Galaxy Player, in essence it is Samsung’s version of Apple’s iPod touch, so you do not get phone functions but do get access to a music database as well as a number of apps available from Google Play. From the details leaked for far, the spec list tells of 1GHz dual-core processor, a sizeable 5.8 inch QHD display with 540 x 960 resolution, microSD slot for up to 32GB of storage as well as a 3 megapixel main camera and VGA front camera on a device sporting a 2500mAh battery.

There is also a long list of unconfirmed specs, which include GPS, Micro USB, stereo speaker, FM radio, Bluetooth 4.0. Expected to run on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with Touchwiz, the device is rumored to be 165.8mm x 85.9mm x 10.8mm and weighing in at 223 grams, it is likely to be available in black or white color options.

On the leaked images released by ProductReviews, sourced from SamMobile, many commentators are already observing that the device looks significantly similar to the Galaxy S3 phone.

There was already much speculation that big announcements would be made by Samsung in couple of weeks, indeed, it is expected they will likely unveil the Galaxy note2 smartphone at IFA in Berlin on August 29, we now hope we will hear more details then too of the upcoming new Galaxy Player.

Samsung will hope the new Galaxy Player will build on the current success of the Galaxy S3 in continuing to see them increase their market share and keep them firmly as one of the market leaders for these devices, alongside Apple. The manufacturer had already seen record profits in Q2 of this year, with reports suggesting they had seen 10 million units of the Galaxy S3 since its release and estimates suggest as many as 19 million units could be sold by the end of Q3.

Of course, there are still a number of ongoing legal battles with Apple, and the anticipated release of the new iPhone sometime in the autumn, which some analysts are predicting, will dampen sales somewhat, so the news is not all good for Samsung. However, the release of the new Galaxy Note2 and the expected announcement about the new Galaxy Player is clear evidence that they will continue to build on their achievements and will develop new products for the market place both inspiring innovation and competition.

Since the player has not been officially announced yet, obviously launch details are not known at the current time.

Samsung seems dead set on releasing a tablet or Galaxy Player in every size imaginable. Recently some new rumors have suggested they are prepping another odd sized 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy Player — or small tablet if you will. Today however we now have a detailed spec sheet and image of the device. A fine blend between their music players, and the Galaxy S III.

Sadly that huge 5.8-inch display doesn’t come with the same impressive screen as their Galaxy Note or others, and instead will have a low qHD 960 x 540 resolution — not even 720p. It’s safe to assume this will be a mid-priced Galaxy Player to compete with the iPod. All the details can be spotted in the image above.

We are hearing from multiple sources the leaked image and details from Sammobile are accurate, and that Samsung could be showing this off at Samsung Unpacked later this month at IFA. Other specs for the Player include a 1.0 GHz dual-core processor — probably TI — 1GB of RAM, a large 2,500 mAh battery, and all running on android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

We do however love the front facing speakers, and were a huge fan of it on the Galaxy Player 4.2, and the new Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet. Samsung already has a 2.8 (phone) and 3.6, 4, 4.2, and 5-inch Galaxy Players, and don’t get me started on their tablet sizes. Between this and the upcoming Galaxy Note 2 at 5.5-inches it’s safe to say they’ve covered all their bases — whether we wanted them to or not. Either way the specs and design are quite nice, and hopefully this will come in at a good price to compete with other music players available today.

In this fun new paper doll app, girls can create their very own stylish mermaid! They can select the mermaid’s skin tone, eyes, hair color, hairstyle, features and tail- then dress up the mermaid with a large selection of princess dresses, sparkling crowns, glittering jewelry, royal scepters and fabulous purses. They can pick out an adorable ocean pet, give the mermaid a name, and choose a background. Children can also “roll the dice” to get a new random mermaid every time! When the mermaid is done, a photo of her can be saved to the Photo Gallery or emailed to friends and family.

Features:
- G rated – the doll and clothing are appropriate for girls ages 3 and up
- Variety of skin, eye and hair colors- girls can create a mermaid to look just like themselves
- Easy to use interface designed for young children
- Encourages creativity by allowing the child to mix and match outfits and colors in a friendly and safe environment
- Includes over 20 dresses with tons of accessories and jewelry to try on, with 12 underwater pets and 8 backgrounds
- Lush, colorful graphics by children’s book illustrator Laura Tallardy
- No advertising, popups or in-game purchases. No internet connection required to play. Child-friendly
- Made proudly in the USA

FreedomPop’s free-“4G”-for-all plans are clearer now that it’s started taking pre-orders on its $99 iPod touch sleeve. The free data allocation has been halved to 500MB, with each additional gigabyte costing $10, with the company offering bulk discounts to heavy users. Marketing VP Tony Miller also told TechCrunch that the iPod sleeve wasn’t a high priority until public clamor forced a shift in its plans, but said that an Android-compliant version of its gear was “on the roadmap.” There’s video after the jump.

The latest smart phone in the iPhone line is expected to unveil at the end of this year, and most likely it will be called iPhone 5 or the “new iPhone” if it follows the same naming convention as the iPad. For the latest iPhone, people are expecting a smart phone that is much thinner than its predecessors are and preferably with a large 4-inch screen and a smaller dock connector. However, according to some rumors, it is not just the iPhone that is getting all these qualities. As these rumors go, the latest iPod touch may have the same features as well, that is a larger screen and a thinner body.

According to a Japanese blog, Macotakara, Apple plans to give the iPod touch the very same 4 inch display that it is going to be putting in the latest iPhone, which will not only match their looks, but give a completely new look to the iPod touch as well. As for the internals of both of these devices, they are much different. Since, the iPod is not a smart phone, so it will most probably have the A5 processor from iPhone 4S as its debut in the media device. As for the back side of the iPod touch, it is going to be a new as well. How new to be exact? Well, it is said that the new iPod touch will have aluminum back, which will be available in two front casing choices of black and white.

The images that are popping up for the iPod have an extra hole in the back of the device. So far, no one knows what it is meant for, so people are welcome to share their guesses with us. Since, both iPhone 5 and the iPod touch will have the same display and the same resolution, it will be helpful in giving people a consistent experience of both apps and iOS regardless of which device you are using. Moreover, giving both devices the same display also means that it will be easier to manufacture one single type of display rather than two different ones. With the same size, it also means that the manufacturing of the device’s components will also be easier, which eventually results in greater manufacturing output, since there will be only one type to be produced.

Giving the iPod touch the A5 processor from the iPhone 4S is another clever move by Apple because the production line is already producing A5 processors for the iPhone 4S. So, no changes required on the production line in order to give the iPod touch its processing power.

The launch date of iPod touch is this fall, according to Macotakara. Apple is going to launch iPhone 5 before the launch of iPod touch, or may be both of these devices will be launched on the same date, as both will look very similar. However, we cannot be sure about the launch date of both of these devices; so far, we will have to wait until some official news comes about these two devices.

Apple had its quarterly earnings call today, and while looking through the news a thought hit. The financials are proof positive that the lawsuits against Android OEMs and partners can never stop. I'll admit that it sounds like I'm wearing a tinfoil hat, but if you read through the data you'll find one thing that can't be ignored — Apple makes all of their money on mobile. Apple sells very few (relatively) laptops and desktops when compared to any of their competitors, sales of the iPod are waning, yet they keep making billions from the iPhone and iPad.

Don't be fooled by the images you see online, with rooms full of MacBooks. That's part of the tech bubble effect, and if you were to put 100 "real" people with a laptop in a room, 95 of them would be running Windows. Or 96 if you count Bootcamp. Apple surely enjoys a high profit margin on the OS X hardware they sell, but it's a niche product. That's unlikely to change in the near future. Apple's money and popularity comes from their mobile offerings — even Steve thought so.

Back to the original thought here — Apple can't let its hold on the mobile market slip away. Android may have a higher smartphone market share and are slowly creeping up in the tablet arena, but sales of the iPhone and iPad keep growing as well each quarter. Apple has to keep it that way, and they see how easy it would be to lose their spot in the hearts and minds of the public.

Google, and to a lesser (but not to be ignored) extent Microsoft, is slowly gaining ground on the content side. In the U.S., you can get books, magazines, movies, TV shows, music and applications for your Android products right from Google Play. It's really easy, your purchases instantly sync across multiple devices, and things are competitively priced. The real difference between Google Play and iTunes is in the content — Apple just has more. As this gap grows smaller and smaller (and it will, Google wants your money bad enough to spend their money), there will be a point where new users will look at device features and capabilities for the deciding factor. Long-time users of either platform are less likely to switch over, as your content doesn't follow you from iOS to Android (or vice versa), but new users who aren't invested have a choice. At one point, iTunes was Apple's cash cow — the amount and quality of the content was what many users used to make their purchasing decision — but that will change. Even Apple can't keep Hollywood studios and music labels from wanting those Googlebucks, and eventually other countries will cave and licenses will be negotiated. It may cost Google everything it has in its war chest, but it will happen.

When the content is equal, and users look at what the device they are going to spend $700 on, features and ease-of-use become the deciding factor. Folks on the Internet will argue mindlessly about lag or quibble over pixels, but the general public sees things like widgets and pop-up video players on big screens and they are impressed. Fanboy arguments aside, looking at a Galaxy S III beside an iPhone 4S, the iOS simplistic beauty is lost on many consumers. Lost to giant weather widgets and saturated 4.8-inch SAMOLED screens. The more features Apple can have stripped away from Android devices, the better the iPhone and iPad look — and operate.

We hate (as in hate) the smartphone wars and software patent mess that goes on across the global courts. We would love to see innovators battle each other only with innovation, because we all win with awesome new features on both platforms. But that's just never going to happen. Apple can't let it happen, and when the "next big thing" comes along to take on Android (and it will) Google can't let it happen. Money makes the world go 'round.

GameDock for iPhone is the latest of the accessories that have joined a bandwagon for Apple compliant hardware add on. This accessory finally allows gamers to enjoy their retro games by playing against each other, using the iPhone as a gaming console. It works as an interface between your iPhone, iPad or iPod on one end and a HDTV on the other.

Traditional arcade games or any other games on the iDevices do not allow you the option to play it with friends on a dual play setup. It is not even convenient to imagine that a tiny touch screen is shared by two users. With the GameDock for iPhone the user will have the possibility to use a big HDTV screen, connecting to it via two game controllers and enjoying the game. It’s needless to mention that the gaming system supports full HD quality at 1080p. However, if you don’t own a HDTV yet, you shouldn’t sweat. The GameDock system works perfectly well even with your small screen (compared to a HDTV) phone, giving you a split display for the two of you.

Currently the GameDock will work with any iCade gaming systems and with all the games available. It works like a traditional gaming cartridge but in this case your iPhone works as the cartridge. The GameDock app comes with an option for you to search for additional games that are available for the iCade platform.

The project is currently on support at Kickstarter awaiting a minimum of $50,000 target pledge money by August 16th to go live. If you are willing to get a copy of the GameDock, all you need to do is to pledge $100 or more and you will get it shipped out to you. Shipping charges are extra just in case you are pledging from outside theUS.

Amazon has rolled out its Cloud Player to Apple’s smaller screens, with both the iPhone and iPod able to play the full catalogue of music stored in your Cloud Drive. This time, it’s a dedicated app, although it may mean re-purposing the music library you’ve already built up from Apple’s own collection. You can’t buy tracks from within the app just yet, but at least your iTunes-bought AAC tracks are transferable. There’s unlimited storage available for anyone willing to pay up for a storage plans and for those less willing to pay, Amazon‘s willing to offer up 5GB of storage gratis. Hit up the source to download, then upload, then listen.

FitPlay 1.1.1 for iOS provides instant access to workout videos from the world’s best coaches on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV. FitPlay is the first app to provide high caliber workout videos from proven coaches and fitness experts to mobile device users. Want to see your favorite workout videos on the big screen instead? You can with FitPlay’s integrated AirPlay support.

FitPlay takes what was traditionally the domain of the DVD workout and transforms it into portable, personal workouts available at the tap of a finger anywhere, any time. There is a wide variety of workouts on FitPlay including, cycling, yoga, kettlebell training, soccer, tennis, golf and core strength training. Each purchased workout includes high-quality HD video streams and many bundle helpful bonus content including nutritional advice and recovery routines.

Apple first introduced the virtual voice based personal assistant, Siri, on the iPhone 4S. The Cupertino tech giant replied with a big ‘no’ for users’ requests to port the awesome app to the older iPhones and the iPod Touch. But the jailbreak developers took it into their own hands to do the port and they have been successful to some extent. Even though the company tried very hard to stop this from happening, it was not successful completely. Siri became so popular that other companies started developing similar apps for their smart phones. For example, Samsung has come out with the new S Voice in its latest Android smart phone, the Samsung Galaxy S III.

But now, somehow, Apple thinks it is important to bring in the virtual assistant app to its other products, and the one in consideration is the next gen iPad, which will be coming with the all new mobile operating system, iOS 6. This news is still in the rumor phase. So do not get too much excited about being able to talk to your new iPad already. There has been no official word on this from Cupertino.

However, Apple already has a part of Siri ready for the new iPad, which is in the form of dictation. Apple and Nuance’s voice recognition partnership has come down to the iPad as well. The rumor, however, quotes a person saying that Siri, for sure, is coming on the new iPad. Here is the quote:

Siri on the iPad is activated by a quick hold of the home button, just like on the iPhone 4S. The interface slides up from below the display with a clever animation. Siri is built into the iPad as a small window on top of whatever interface the user is currently interacting with. This Siri window with rounded corners sits at the bottom center of the display, as you can see in our mockup above. The Siri iPad interface takes very little space over the iPad interface currently in use, and is designed with the same linen texture as on the iPhone 4S. Siri for iPad also works from the lock screen.

The rumor also says that Siri might be exclusive to the new iPad only, and users of the older versions of the tablet might not get the chance to talk to their iPads. It is also unclear if Apple will be showcasing this at next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference or if it will keep it for the actual launch event of the new iPad. Are you excited?

Cute Logic have today released Kinetic Light Slideshow 1.5, the latest release of their popular slideshow app for iPhone and iPod touch. Kinetic Light was formerly called Cute Slideshow – and as well as a new name, Kinetic Light has a brand new improved interface.

Kinetic Light Slideshow excels at making great looking slideshows with the minimum of fuss. Using a simple and intuitive interface, users combine photos into slideshows using 20 professional quality transitions. Title slides can be included, with a choice of 12 different themes available. Users can add a soundtrack from their iPod music library. Slideshows can be played back on the device, or on a television and can be turned into movies for easy sharing with friends.

Suren Hakobyan has announced the release and worldwide availability of Cocky Roach, his new fast-paced game for iPhone and iPod touch. With simple rules, intuitive touch controls, and dynamic gameplay Cocky Roach is the title that would appeal to the pick up and play gamers of the iOS world.

The game both entertains and tests users quickness and accuracy. The player’s mission is to catch speedy bugs at one tap, as the screen is extremely fragile. To succeed Cocky Roach players should avoid accidental and unnecessary dabs as frivolous tapping is penalized and the screen solidity drops dramatically with every extra touch.